US20090029638A1 - Coin feeding apparatus and method for biasing a release of coins - Google Patents
Coin feeding apparatus and method for biasing a release of coins Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- US20090029638A1 US20090029638A1 US11/932,840 US93284007A US2009029638A1 US 20090029638 A1 US20090029638 A1 US 20090029638A1 US 93284007 A US93284007 A US 93284007A US 2009029638 A1 US2009029638 A1 US 2009029638A1
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- United States
- Prior art keywords
- coin
- coins
- pressing
- rotation disk
- rotation
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- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07D—HANDLING OF COINS OR VALUABLE PAPERS, e.g. TESTING, SORTING BY DENOMINATIONS, COUNTING, DISPENSING, CHANGING OR DEPOSITING
- G07D9/00—Counting coins; Handling of coins not provided for in the other groups of this subclass
- G07D9/008—Feeding coins from bulk
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
- G07D—HANDLING OF COINS OR VALUABLE PAPERS, e.g. TESTING, SORTING BY DENOMINATIONS, COUNTING, DISPENSING, CHANGING OR DEPOSITING
- G07D3/00—Sorting a mixed bulk of coins into denominations
- G07D3/12—Sorting coins by means of stepped deflectors
- G07D3/128—Rotary devices
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a coin feeding apparatus for coins that are accommodated in a storage portion, separated by a rotation disk, and fed to a feed-out coin port, and more particularly to a coin feeding apparatus suitable for providing an accurate release of coins fed out along an outer periphery of the rotation disk by way of centrifugal force against a controlled resistance.
- a rotation disk is provided inside a hopper and coins are scraped out one by one by a claw provided on the rotation disk and moved upward.
- the coins are received on a coin rail at an exit near a top portion to be guided to a coin mechanism from the exit along the rail, as shown in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2000-298749.
- a coin can inadvertently drop off the claw due to vibration occurring when coins are supplied and thrown into a hopper while a coin is being subjected to feeding operation to an exit by the rotation disk.
- Particularly coins having small diameter and a thin thickness can easily drop off.
- the feeding operation is nullified, which undesirably reduces the coin processing efficiency.
- the coin is pushed out while being moved in the periphery direction on the disk face of the rotation disk, and enters a slit-shaped exit positioned in parallel.
- the height and width of the exit formed in a slit shape is set such that only a single horizontally-laid coin, positioned on an upper face of a lower rotation circular plate can pass through.
- a coin drops off the disk face of the rotation disk due to vibration or the like, the coin can unintentionally strike the slit-shaped exit obliquely. Then, a coin which obliquely strikes the exit can be pressed with the claw in the feeding operation on its opposite side, and consequently the coin is sandwiched between the exit and the claw to create a locked state.
- the coin when a coin that is carried near the exit is passed to a coin rail by the rotation disk, the coin can drop off the rail due to an unstable movement caused by vibration of the apparatus itself.
- the coin can drop off due to irregular motion of the coin itself when stirred and rotated at a fast speed inside the hopper instead of being located on the rail.
- the coin may not drop off and the coin may be hung up and stopped at the rail.
- a coin processing apparatus configured as follows.
- a coin feeding apparatus configured such that after coins are held and separated into a division recessed portion arranged on an upper face of a rotation disk, the coins are fed out from an opening provided at a predetermined position in the periphery direction of the rotation disk by a coin pushing moving body movably provided within the division recessed portions.
- a pressing member elastically presses the coins against an upper face of the rotation disk.
- the moving body when the rotation disk rotates, the moving body operates in association therewith to push the coin outward and feed it to the opening at an exit while moving the coin in the periphery direction.
- the coin is further being pressed against the upper face of the rotation disk by a coin pressing portion.
- the coin can stably lie on the upper face of the rotation disk and is stably put on the moving body.
- the coin will not drop off the moving body.
- the coin is temporarily held by the moving body, accurately fed to the exit opening so that an accelerated coin process can be performed, thereby improving the coin processing rate. It also is possible to provide a coin feeding apparatus with high operation reliability and remarkably less failures.
- a coin feeding apparatus wherein the pressing member is provided with a first pressing portion for elastically pressing coins moved from the division recessed portion in the periphery direction of the rotation disk by the moving body against the upper face of the rotation disk, and a second pressing portion for pressing the coins immediately before being passed by the moving body to a coin receiving portion provided near the opening against the upper face of the rotation disk.
- the coin is passed to the coin receiving portion by a further operation of the moving body, the coin is pressed onto the upper face of the disk by the second pressing portion to be stable in its posture so that the coin can be smoothly passed to the coin receiving portion.
- the coin Since the coin remains pressed onto the upper face of the rotation disk even after being passed, the coin is stably placed on the coin receiving portion until the feeding rotation wheel reaches an exit position. Therefore, the coins can be accurately fed out one by one by the coin feeding wheel.
- a coin feeding apparatus comprising a block plate inclined upward relative to the upper face of the rotation disk in the rotation upstream direction of the rotation disk, for preventing the coins moved to the periphery direction of the rotation disk from proceeding toward the inlet of an exit opening, which is provided continuously by the first pressing portion and extends in the diameter direction of the rotation disk.
- a coin feeding apparatus wherein the pressing member is an elastic pressing plate integrally composed of a first elastic pressing piece which is inclined downward and extends so as to be positioned before the coin opening and in contact with the coins on the rotation disk at its tip end and a second elastic pressing piece which is inclined downward and extends so as to be positioned behind the coin opening and in contact with the coins on the rotation disk at its tip end.
- the coin can be effectively pushed out. Further, since the second elastic pressing piece is positioned behind the coin opening when the moving body operates to pass the coin to the coin receiving portion the coin can be effectively fed into the coin opening.
- an elastic pressing plate in which the first elastic pressing piece and the second elastic pressing piece are integrally formed, before and behind the coin opening is provided so that a coin can be stably fed out with a simple structure. Since the elastic pressing plate can be made of synthetic resin, it can be provided as a simple and inexpensive member, which is practical and easily replaced.
- FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a coin processing apparatus using a coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention
- FIG. 2 is a front view of the coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 3 is a front view of a coin pressing member provided in the coin feeding apparatus according to the present invention.
- FIG. 4 is a side view of the pressing member
- FIG. 5 is a front view showing how coin drop-off is eliminated by the coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an appearance thereof
- FIG. 7 is a front view showing how a coin receiving mistake is eliminated by the coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an appearance thereof
- FIG. 9 is a front view showing how coin strike against an opening is eliminated by the coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
- FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an appearance thereof
- FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the entire appearance showing a schematic structure of the coin feeding apparatus according to the present invention.
- FIG. 12 is a view showing various failure phenomena of coin feeding by an unimproved coin feeding apparatus according to the present invention, which is a front view showing coin drop-off phenomenon;
- FIG. 13 is a front view showing a coin receiving mistake phenomenon
- FIG. 14 is a front view showing a coin lock phenomenon
- FIG. 15 is a cross-section view taken along the line A-A of FIG. 14 .
- the present embodiment is a coin feeding apparatus for use in a coin processing apparatus which can receive 8 different types of coins, such as 2-Euro coin, 1-Euro coin, 50-cent coin, 20-cent coin, 10-cent coin, 5-cent coin, 2-cent coin and 1-cent coin, which are common currency of the European Union, and can store coins of each type, and pay a predetermined number of coins of predetermined types based on payment instruction for example in a vending machine.
- 8 different types of coins such as 2-Euro coin, 1-Euro coin, 50-cent coin, 20-cent coin, 10-cent coin, 5-cent coin, 2-cent coin and 1-cent coin, which are common currency of the European Union, and can store coins of each type, and pay a predetermined number of coins of predetermined types based on payment instruction for example in a vending machine.
- the coin processing apparatus 100 includes a coin feeding apparatus 101 , a coin type determining apparatus 102 , a coin carrying apparatus 103 and a coin selecting apparatus (not shown) provided inside the coin carrying apparatus 103 .
- the coin feeding apparatus 100 is provided with a rotation disk 105 for dividing and feeding coins one by one and the coins are fed to the coin type determining apparatus 102 one by one by a moving body 117 pivotably provided on the rotation disk 105 .
- a coin 110 is fed into the coin type determining apparatus 102 through a coin passing opening 106 provided at the top of the coin feeding apparatus 101 .
- the present invention is characterized in that the coin 110 is pushed toward an outer periphery direction of the disk as a result of a rotational operation of the rotation disk 105 in the coin feeding apparatus 101 and coins are fed into the coin opening 106 at the top thereof while being moved along the outer periphery of the disk.
- a pressing member 10 can press a coin 110 against an upper face 105 S of the rotation disk 105 so that the coin feeding operation can be stably performed at a high speed.
- the pressing member 10 is arranged along the rotation path of the coin rotation disk 105 adjacent the coin opening 106 . While the coin 110 is being carried from the coin feeding apparatus 101 to a coin type determining apparatus 102 , the coin neither drops off the moving body 117 nor becomes jammed along the moving path, and is accurately fed into the coin opening 106 so that the coins can be efficiently processed. Details thereof will be described subsequently.
- the coins are fed into the carrying apparatus 130 for the next processing step, and the coins are separated based on the type or denomination in the coin selecting apparatus 130 which is configured to open/close predetermined gates to release specific coins while coins are carried along a predetermined path.
- the coin feeding apparatus 100 includes a rotation disk 105 , a storage bowl 104 for storing coins, and a cylinder-shaped storage ring 107 positioned under the storage bowl 104 to surround the rotation disk 105 as shown in FIG. 2 .
- Several different types of coins, thrown from the coin throwing port, are introduced and dropped into the storage portion under the release port of the storage bowl 104 to be stored in an accumulated manner.
- the rotation disk 105 has a universal division recessed portion 113 for receiving different denominations of coins one by one, and is obliquely provided at the bottom of the storage ring 107 at a predetermined angle to be rotated at a predetermined speed and in a certain direction, that is counterclockwise as shown by an arrow G in the embodiment of FIG. 1 .
- the rotation disk 105 is composed of a base rotation circular plate 111 and a pushing disk 12 fixed on the upper face of the rotation circular plate 111 coaxially with the rotation circular plate 111 and made of a Y-shaped plate having three recessed portions at a constant interval on the protrusion 115 so that a space between the protrusions 115 of the pushing disk 112 and the moving body 117 described later form a substantially semicircular division recessed portion 113 at the upper face of the rotation circular plate 111 .
- the depth of the division recessed portion 113 that is the thickness of the pushing disk 112 is formed to be slightly smaller than the thickness of the thinnest coin among the 8 types of coins.
- the plate is not limited to a Y-shape and may be found as a plate in which several protrusions are radially formed.
- the rotation circular plate 111 and the plate, that is the pushing disk 112 may be integrally shaped by pre-sintered metal or from a wear-resistant resin.
- the division recessed portion 113 between the protrusions 115 has a moving body 117 arranged at its one side, which pivotally operates about a pivot shaft 120 to receive and eject coins.
- the division recessed portion 113 is formed to be a substantially semicircular division recessed portion on the rotation circular plate 111 by the moving body 117 and the protrusions 115 .
- a slightly concaved recessed portion is formed at the other side of the division recessed portion 113 in the protrusion 115 and a coin extrusive portion 121 for receiving the coin 110 against the recessed portion and carrying the same is formed in the recessed portion.
- An arcuate receiving portion 118 for receiving the moving body 117 is provided in the division recessed portion 113 in opposite to the coin extrusive portion 121 .
- the division recessed portion 113 is set in its size such that two coins having the smallest diameter cannot be received side by side and only one coin having the largest diameter can still be received. Thus, two coins having the smallest diameter cannot be received into the division recessed portion 113 in a side by side in the diameter direction of the rotation disk 105 .
- the moving body 117 When the moving body 117 is typically in the rest state near one side of the recessed portion so as to form a fully open position for the division recessed portion 113 and is subsequently moved to a predetermined position through the pivot motion, the moving body 117 thereby feeds the stored coins in the periphery direction of the rotation circular plate 111 .
- the ejection movement to the predetermined position by the moving body 117 is initiated along the rotation path of the rotation disk 105 slightly downstream of the aforementioned coin passing opening 106 which is formed such that the coin can pass to the coin type determining apparatus 102 at the top of the storage ring 107 .
- the moving body 117 passes through the opening 106 , the moving body 117 is returned and operated to be accommodated in the receiving portion 118 formed at one side of the recessed portion to again receive a stored coin.
- the moving body 117 can be moved on a groove cam by utilizing the rotation operation of the rotation circular plate 111 .
- a pin 122 is fixedly provided at the middle of the moving body 117 and is inserted into an arcuate through hole 123 formed about the pivot shaft 120 , where the pin 122 is formed in the rotation circular plate 111 of the rotation disk 105 .
- a drive mechanism in which the pin 122 is slidably inserted into a groove cam provided at the lower side of the rotation circular plate 111 (not shown) through a moved body such as a roller.
- the rotation disk 105 is rotated by an electric motor 124 (see FIG. 1 ).
- the rotation of the electric motor 124 is transmitted to a speed reducing or deceleration gear (not shown) formed at a lower periphery face of the rotation circular plate 111 (not shown) through a decelerator gear or gears and the rotation disk 105 is rotated at a predetermined speed.
- a coin feeding wheel 128 is provided at the side of the coin type determining apparatus 102 into which a coin is fed.
- a coin guide rail 129 is provided inside the coin type determining apparatus 102 in correspondence to the wheel 128 .
- a part of the coin guide rail 129 near the opening 106 is formed into a knife-shaped coin receiving portion 127 (see FIGS. 5 and 6 ) for easy reception of the coin 110 .
- the thicknesses of the coin guide rail 129 and coin receiving portion 127 are set to be of sufficient size to accommodate the coins.
- the coins 110 accumulated inside the storage bowl 104 , are stirred by the rotation disk 105 having the above structure and the coins 110 are held in the division recessed portion 113 one by one and moved upward, and are pushed out in the periphery direction from the division recessed portion 113 by the moving body 117 when the coin reaches the predetermined position above the rotation center.
- the pushed coins 110 are lead to the opening 106 via the coin receiving portion 127 . Then, the coins are fed into the coin type determining apparatus 102 while being rotated along the guide rail 129 by a feeding arm 128 a of the wheel 128 at the side of the coin type determining apparatus 102 which is rotating to face the opening 106 , and then the coins are fed into the carrying apparatus 104 and subsequently to a coin type determination.
- the coin 110 is fed from the opening 106 to a coin passage 130 at the side of the coin type determining apparatus 102 by the rotation disk 105 in the same posture as the obliquely-provided rotation disk 105 , and is received by the coin receiving portion 127 .
- the opening 106 is provided at an obliquely-cut portion at the lower right corner of the box-shaped coin type determining apparatus 102 as understood from FIGS. 2 and 11 .
- the coin type determining apparatus 102 accommodates the wheel 128 in the circular recessed portion 126 , and is composed of a plate-shaped fixed substrate 133 below the coin guide rail 129 and coin receiving portion 127 and a main body 134 which is pivoted at an attachment shaft 135 on the right of the fixed substrate 133 in an openable/closable manner, has a box-shaped case and incorporates a coin type determining sensor or the like inside the case, see FIG. 2 .
- part of the periphery of the circular recessed portion 126 formed in the fixed substrate 133 is opened and is communicated with a recessed portion 109 inside the coin feeding apparatus 101 (see FIG. 5 ).
- the inner bottom face of the circular recessed portion 126 is a wheel-arranged base face 126 S and the inner bottom face of the recessed portion 109 inside the apparatus is an upper face 105 S of the rotation disk.
- the wheel-arranged base face 126 S and the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk are continuous in the plane.
- the inner bottom face of the circular recessed portion 126 as the coin feeding face and the inner bottom face of the recessed portion 109 inside the apparatus are continuous in a smooth plane so that a coin can be smoothly moved from the coin feeding apparatus 101 to the coin type determining apparatus 102 through the coin opening 106 .
- the rear face 134 B of the main body 134 is opposed to the wheel-arranged base face 126 S as the inner bottom face of the circular recessed portion 126 , and is also opposed to the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk as the inner bottom face of the recessed portion 109 inside the apparatus.
- the opening 106 is formed among the three members.
- the coin opening 106 is in a slit rectangular shape, and the thickness and width thereof is set so that only one coin at a time can pass. Since the coin feeding apparatus copes with several types of coins, the opening 106 is set and formed to have a thickness and width in as much conformity as possible to a coin having the maximum thickness and maximum diameter.
- the opening 106 is a rectangular port surrounded by 4 members such as the coin receiving portion 127 for defining the thickness and width of the opening 106 and the right-side protrusion 140 (see FIGS. 6 and 9 ) at the circular recessed portion opposite thereto in addition to the rear face 134 B of the main body, the circular recessed portion 126 and the recessed portion 109 inside the apparatus.
- the surface of the wheel 128 is covered with the rear face 134 B of the closed main body.
- an attachment plate 8 of a horizontally-long plate shape is mounted in a canopy shape at the lower end of the main body 134 of the coin type determining apparatus 102 .
- the canopy-shaped attachment plate 8 is positioned opposed to the wheel-arranged base face 126 S and the disk face 105 S of the rotation disk when the main body 134 is closed, and constitutes part of the opening as an upper wall of the opening 106 .
- the feeding operation may not be normally performed in some cases.
- a phenomenon as shown in FIG. 12 may occur.
- the coin 110 when the coin 110 is pushed out from the division recessed portion 113 by the moving body 117 , the coin 110 may drop off a tip end 117 e of the moving body 117 due to the apparatus's vibration or the like. If the coin 110 may drop off when the coin 110 is captured by the moving body 117 and is not smoothly ready to be fed into the opening 106 , the coin feeding rate decreases so that the apparatus lacks in its coin processing ability.
- the coin may drop off the coin receiving portion 127 or may be held at the tip end 127 e of the coin receiving portion 127 in a hung manner instead of dropping off completely.
- the wheel 128 cannot rotate due to the stopped coin 110 and cannot feed out the coin 110 with its arm 128 a . Consequently, the wheel 128 cannot rotate, which is determined as an operation failure and will interrupt the operation of the apparatus itself.
- the repair fixing of an apparatus in an abnormal stop requires removal of the clogged coin 110 B or the like, and consequently the working dispensing rate of the coin processing apparatus may significantly decrease.
- the present invention addresses these potential problems.
- the attachment plate 8 having a horizontally-long plate shape, which extends in a canopy shape as described above, is attached at the lower end of the main body 134 of the coin type determining apparatus 102 .
- the pressing member 10 for elastically pressing the coin 110 against the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk 105 is provided along the rotation path near the opening 106 of the rotation disk 105 .
- the face opposite to the pressing face that is the lower face of the coin 110 , is pushed against the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk 105 by the pressing member 10 by way of an appropriate pressing force.
- the coin 110 stably lies on the upper face of the rotation disk 105 . In this manner, since the coin can be placed on the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk 105 in a stable posture, the coin 110 can be smoothly fed out.
- the pressing member 10 is a flexibly elastic plate which is configured to be made of synthetic resin or the like to have a plane shape as shown in FIG. 3 and to have an oblique portion 12 as shown in FIG. 4 at its upstream part.
- the pressing member 10 can be mounted on the rear side of the attachment plate 8 by glue or other adhesive material.
- the glued portion is illustrated by diagonal lines 22 in FIG. 3 .
- the pressing member 10 can be made of a synthetic resin such as a polycarbonate material having the thickness of about 0.3 mm. Since the pressing member 10 is made of a flexible material such as synthetic resin, the material itself has appropriate elasticity to provide a resilient force.
- the pressing member 10 has a plate-shaped base or body member 10 k having a predetermined width and length, and the aforementioned oblique portion 12 is integrally formed with the plate-shaped base 10 k at its upstream one end at a predetermined inclination angle, for example at the inclination angle of 30°.
- the oblique portion 12 has a first pressing portion 14 which extends downward from the base 10 k .
- the first pressing portion 14 is a first elastic pressing piece 14 H.
- the oblique portion 12 is formed with a block plate 15 (described later) which is continuous with the first pressing portion 14 in the plane and extends upward from the base 10 k .
- the block plate 15 is directed for preventing the coin 110 from proceeding toward the opening 106 , which will be described later.
- the pressing member 10 includes a second pressing portion 16 provided at the other end at a predetermined inclination angle, for example at the inclination angle of 30°.
- the second pressing portion 16 is a second elastic pressing piece 16 H.
- the first elastic pressing piece 14 H is configured to elastically contact with the upper face of the coin 110 at its tip end as shown in FIG. 4 .
- the first elastic pressing piece 14 H is provided above the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk 105 at the attachment height d such that the tip end thereof is slightly lower than the thickness D of the coin.
- the second elastic pressing piece 16 H is also provided above the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk 105 at the attachment height d such that the tip end thereof is slightly lower than the thickness D of the coin.
- the attachment height d is set at a position lower than the thickness D of the thinnest coin.
- each elastic pressing piece 14 H, 16 H presses the coin 110 against the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk 105 by a predetermined resilient force according to the amount of deflection of the tip end deflected by the coin, respectively.
- the pressing member 10 is configured such that the first pressing portion 14 (first elastic pressing piece 14 H) is positioned before the opening 106 , the second pressing portion 16 (second elastic pressing piece 16 H) is positioned behind the opening 106 , and the first and second pressing portions 14 , 16 contact with the coin 110 moved by the moving body 117 at an appropriate timing.
- the first elastic pressing piece 14 H of the pressing member 10 contacts with the coin 110 put on the tip end of the moving body 117 at a position shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 and presses the coin downward. Therefore, the coin 110 can stably lie on the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk 105 so that the coin 110 can be smoothly moved by the moving body 117 .
- the coin 110 can be stably pressed so as not to separate from the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk 105 , the coin 110 is prevented from unstably moving in the thickness direction of the moving body 117 and is held in its appropriate path of movement. Until the final stage where the moving body 117 pivotally operates and pushes the coin 110 from the division recessed portion 113 , the coin 110 can be held without dropping off the moving body 117 , thereby accurately feeding the coin 110 . Thus, the coin feeding rate is improved.
- the pressing force by the pressing member 10 can be changed depending on the selection of a material of the pressing member 10 , the inclination angle of the elastic pressing pieces 14 H, 16 H and the providing height, and it is possible to obtain an appropriate pressing force as needed by setting such conditions or parameters.
- both the first elastic pressing piece 14 H and the second elastic pressing piece 16 H are set at the inclination angle of 30°, but may be at a different angle.
- a portion where the first pressing portion 14 presses against the coin 110 is at the lower half of the coin face from the center of the coin 110 where a centrifugal force has less impact. This is because it is expected that if the upper half of the coin face at a farther position on the outer periphery from the rotation center of the rotation disk 105 is pressed, the pressing force against the coin may be unstable due to the centrifugal force so that the moving body cannot stably hold the coin.
- the second pressing portion 16 is a triangle plate-shaped portion which is bent to be inclined downward toward the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk 105 at a position opposite to the first pressing portion 12 .
- the second elastic pressing piece 16 H as this bending portion, presses the coin 110 downward, that is toward the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk.
- the second pressing portion 16 is positioned opposite to the coin receiving portion 127 as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 .
- the rotation disk 105 rotates and the coin 110 is put on the coin receiving portion 127 by a pivot operation of the moving body 117 , the coin 110 is pressed against the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk by an appropriate pressure by the second elastic pressing piece 16 H of the second pressing portion 16 at a location as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 .
- the coin 110 can be stably received at the coin receiving portion 127 and remains placed on the coin receiving portion 127 .
- the coin will not drop off the coin receiving portion 127 .
- the coin 110 put on the coin receiving portion 127 can be smoothly fed into the coin type determining apparatus 102 by the arm 128 a of the wheel 128 which rotates and reaches the position. If there was no pressing member for making the coin receiving state stable, the coin may drop off the coin receiving portion or may be hung in the dropped state.
- the wheel 128 may be stopped due to the coin and cannot rotate, and consequently the apparatus is in abnormal stop condition.
- the coin 110 since the coin 110 is passed to the coin receiving portion 127 in a more stable posture by the second pressing portion 16 , the coin 110 will not stop at the coin receiving portion 127 in a hung manner so that the above failures are eliminated.
- the block plate 15 is an elastic plate inclined upward relative to the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk 105 toward the upstream side of the rotation direction of the rotation disk 105 and is formed continuously with the first pressing portion 12 as shown in FIGS. 3 , 4 , 5 and FIGS. 9 , 10 .
- the inclination angle of the block plate 15 is 30°, which is the same as the first elastic pressing piece 14 H.
- the block plate 15 has a necessary width, which extends for a predetermined length in the diameter direction of the rotation disk 105 , and thus extends near the opening 106 .
- the block plate 15 covers the rotation disk 105 like a roof before the opening 106 , even when a coin 110 proceeds toward the inlet of the opening 106 , the block plate 15 prevents it. Thus, the coin 110 is prevented from striking the opening 106 as disclosed with a conventional coin 110 B in FIG. 15 .
- the block plate 15 forms a barrier and is provided in an upward-inclined manner relative to the upper face 105 S of the rotation disk 105 , even if the coin may jump from the disk face 105 S due to the apparatus's vibration, the coin is still restricted from jumping by the block plate 15 and is prevented from falling out of the desired coin path, and consequently will not strike the opening 106 .
- the pressing member 10 Since the pressing member 10 is made of a flexible member such as a synthetic resin, it has an elastic force and operates to return the coin 110 toward the upper face 105 S of the disk by an appropriate pressure even when the coin 110 bounces and strikes the block plate 15 so that the blocking function on the coin works well.
- the pressing member 10 can be integrally molded as a one piece member with appropriately hinged first and second pressing pieces 14 and 16 .
- the present invention can easily and accurately eliminate failures such as the lock phenomenon at the coin feeding port, the coin dropping-off phenomenon from the moving body, the rotation disability of the rotation disk due to coin stop at the coin receiving portion and the like by providing the coin pressing member 10 described above.
- the coin feeding operation of the coins can be stably performed, the coin processing rate of the entire apparatus is remarkably improved, thereby obtaining a beneficial coin feeding apparatus.
Abstract
Description
- 1. Field of the Invention
- The present invention relates to a coin feeding apparatus for coins that are accommodated in a storage portion, separated by a rotation disk, and fed to a feed-out coin port, and more particularly to a coin feeding apparatus suitable for providing an accurate release of coins fed out along an outer periphery of the rotation disk by way of centrifugal force against a controlled resistance.
- 2. Description of Related Art
- As one example of a conventional technique of a coin feeding apparatus, a rotation disk is provided inside a hopper and coins are scraped out one by one by a claw provided on the rotation disk and moved upward. The coins are received on a coin rail at an exit near a top portion to be guided to a coin mechanism from the exit along the rail, as shown in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2000-298749.
- In such a conventional technique, a coin can inadvertently drop off the claw due to vibration occurring when coins are supplied and thrown into a hopper while a coin is being subjected to feeding operation to an exit by the rotation disk. Particularly coins having small diameter and a thin thickness can easily drop off. Although such a coin is scraped out and is in the feeding operation, if the coin drops off, the feeding operation is nullified, which undesirably reduces the coin processing efficiency.
- Further, at the time of a normal coin feeding by the rotation disk, the coin is pushed out while being moved in the periphery direction on the disk face of the rotation disk, and enters a slit-shaped exit positioned in parallel. The height and width of the exit formed in a slit shape is set such that only a single horizontally-laid coin, positioned on an upper face of a lower rotation circular plate can pass through.
- If a coin drops off the disk face of the rotation disk due to vibration or the like, the coin can unintentionally strike the slit-shaped exit obliquely. Then, a coin which obliquely strikes the exit can be pressed with the claw in the feeding operation on its opposite side, and consequently the coin is sandwiched between the exit and the claw to create a locked state.
- In such a situation, the rotation disk cannot perform a feeding rotation operation due to the locked coin so that the rotation is stopped. A rotation stop is detected as an operation fault and the entire apparatus is stopped in its operation by a controller and removal of the locked coin is needed to restart the apparatus. Therefore, there is a problem in that a frequent abnormal stop, due to such a cause, also reduces the operation rate of the coin feeding apparatus.
- Furthermore, when a coin that is carried near the exit is passed to a coin rail by the rotation disk, the coin can drop off the rail due to an unstable movement caused by vibration of the apparatus itself. The coin can drop off due to irregular motion of the coin itself when stirred and rotated at a fast speed inside the hopper instead of being located on the rail. Also, the coin may not drop off and the coin may be hung up and stopped at the rail.
- In this case, when a coin that has passed to the receiving portion is fed out by a feeding wheel, the wheel can press against the coin and cannot rotate so that the apparatus will be stopped in its operation.
- There is accordingly, a demand to address such problems as the requirement for increasing the speed of coin movement has increased in this field.
- It is a first object of the present invention to provide a coin feeding apparatus that is capable of efficiently processing a coin by providing apparatus for maintaining and carrying a coin in a more stable controlled state when the coin is being fed by a high speed rotation disk.
- It is a second object to provide a coin feeding apparatus in which the apparatus for stably carrying a coin can be achieved with a simple structure and at a low cost.
- In order to achieve the above objects, a coin processing apparatus according to a first aspect is configured as follows.
- In a coin feeding apparatus configured such that after coins are held and separated into a division recessed portion arranged on an upper face of a rotation disk, the coins are fed out from an opening provided at a predetermined position in the periphery direction of the rotation disk by a coin pushing moving body movably provided within the division recessed portions. When the coins are moved in the periphery direction of the rotation disk by the moving body at the time of the rotation of the rotation disk, a pressing member elastically presses the coins against an upper face of the rotation disk.
- In this structure, when the rotation disk rotates, the moving body operates in association therewith to push the coin outward and feed it to the opening at an exit while moving the coin in the periphery direction.
- At that time, the coin is further being pressed against the upper face of the rotation disk by a coin pressing portion. The coin can stably lie on the upper face of the rotation disk and is stably put on the moving body. Thus, during the coin feeding operation by the moving body, the coin will not drop off the moving body. The coin is temporarily held by the moving body, accurately fed to the exit opening so that an accelerated coin process can be performed, thereby improving the coin processing rate. It also is possible to provide a coin feeding apparatus with high operation reliability and remarkably less failures.
- According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a coin feeding apparatus wherein the pressing member is provided with a first pressing portion for elastically pressing coins moved from the division recessed portion in the periphery direction of the rotation disk by the moving body against the upper face of the rotation disk, and a second pressing portion for pressing the coins immediately before being passed by the moving body to a coin receiving portion provided near the opening against the upper face of the rotation disk.
- With this structure, when the coin in the initial operation of the moving body is pushed outside the division recessed portion, the coin is in a pressed state on the upper face of the rotation disk by the first pressing portion. Thus, since the coin lies on the upper face of the rotation disk in a more stable state, the coin will not drop off the moving body, thereby accurately pushing the coin.
- Also when the coin is passed to the coin receiving portion by a further operation of the moving body, the coin is pressed onto the upper face of the disk by the second pressing portion to be stable in its posture so that the coin can be smoothly passed to the coin receiving portion.
- Since the coin remains pressed onto the upper face of the rotation disk even after being passed, the coin is stably placed on the coin receiving portion until the feeding rotation wheel reaches an exit position. Therefore, the coins can be accurately fed out one by one by the coin feeding wheel.
- According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coin feeding apparatus comprising a block plate inclined upward relative to the upper face of the rotation disk in the rotation upstream direction of the rotation disk, for preventing the coins moved to the periphery direction of the rotation disk from proceeding toward the inlet of an exit opening, which is provided continuously by the first pressing portion and extends in the diameter direction of the rotation disk.
- With this structure, even if the coin moves to strike the exit slot opening in the feeding portion during the coin feeding operation, the movement thereof is stopped by the block plate inclined upward before the opening so that the coin will not strike the inlet of the opening.
- Therefore, there can be prevented, an occurrence where the coin will strike the exit opening and be sandwiched between the opening and the moving body to be in a locked state. Accordingly, there are less failures in which the coin will be locked during the feeding operation, thereby providing a coin feeding apparatus with high reliability which can be maintained for a long period of time.
- According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a coin feeding apparatus wherein the pressing member is an elastic pressing plate integrally composed of a first elastic pressing piece which is inclined downward and extends so as to be positioned before the coin opening and in contact with the coins on the rotation disk at its tip end and a second elastic pressing piece which is inclined downward and extends so as to be positioned behind the coin opening and in contact with the coins on the rotation disk at its tip end.
- With this structure, since the first elastic pressing piece is positioned before the coin opening when the moving body operates to push a coin outside the division recessed portion, the coin can be effectively pushed out. Further, since the second elastic pressing piece is positioned behind the coin opening when the moving body operates to pass the coin to the coin receiving portion the coin can be effectively fed into the coin opening.
- Further, an elastic pressing plate in which the first elastic pressing piece and the second elastic pressing piece are integrally formed, before and behind the coin opening is provided so that a coin can be stably fed out with a simple structure. Since the elastic pressing plate can be made of synthetic resin, it can be provided as a simple and inexpensive member, which is practical and easily replaced.
- The objects and features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
-
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a coin processing apparatus using a coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 2 is a front view of the coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 3 is a front view of a coin pressing member provided in the coin feeding apparatus according to the present invention; -
FIG. 4 is a side view of the pressing member; -
FIG. 5 is a front view showing how coin drop-off is eliminated by the coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an appearance thereof; -
FIG. 7 is a front view showing how a coin receiving mistake is eliminated by the coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an appearance thereof; -
FIG. 9 is a front view showing how coin strike against an opening is eliminated by the coin feeding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention; -
FIG. 10 is a perspective view of an appearance thereof; -
FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the entire appearance showing a schematic structure of the coin feeding apparatus according to the present invention; -
FIG. 12 is a view showing various failure phenomena of coin feeding by an unimproved coin feeding apparatus according to the present invention, which is a front view showing coin drop-off phenomenon; -
FIG. 13 is a front view showing a coin receiving mistake phenomenon; -
FIG. 14 is a front view showing a coin lock phenomenon; and -
FIG. 15 is a cross-section view taken along the line A-A ofFIG. 14 . - Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the invention which set forth the best modes contemplated to carry out the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following detailed description of the present invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention.
- The term “coin” used herein in the specification includes currency coins, tokens, medals and the like, and includes circular ones and polygonal ones in shape.
- At first, the structure of the coin feeding apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to
FIGS. 1 to 11 . - The present embodiment is a coin feeding apparatus for use in a coin processing apparatus which can receive 8 different types of coins, such as 2-Euro coin, 1-Euro coin, 50-cent coin, 20-cent coin, 10-cent coin, 5-cent coin, 2-cent coin and 1-cent coin, which are common currency of the European Union, and can store coins of each type, and pay a predetermined number of coins of predetermined types based on payment instruction for example in a vending machine.
- In
FIG. 1 , thecoin processing apparatus 100 includes acoin feeding apparatus 101, a cointype determining apparatus 102, a coin carrying apparatus 103 and a coin selecting apparatus (not shown) provided inside the coin carrying apparatus 103. - In other words, the
coin feeding apparatus 100 is provided with arotation disk 105 for dividing and feeding coins one by one and the coins are fed to the cointype determining apparatus 102 one by one by a movingbody 117 pivotably provided on therotation disk 105. Acoin 110 is fed into the cointype determining apparatus 102 through acoin passing opening 106 provided at the top of thecoin feeding apparatus 101. - The present invention is characterized in that the
coin 110 is pushed toward an outer periphery direction of the disk as a result of a rotational operation of therotation disk 105 in thecoin feeding apparatus 101 and coins are fed into thecoin opening 106 at the top thereof while being moved along the outer periphery of the disk. A pressingmember 10 can press acoin 110 against anupper face 105S of therotation disk 105 so that the coin feeding operation can be stably performed at a high speed. - The pressing
member 10 is arranged along the rotation path of thecoin rotation disk 105 adjacent thecoin opening 106. While thecoin 110 is being carried from thecoin feeding apparatus 101 to a cointype determining apparatus 102, the coin neither drops off the movingbody 117 nor becomes jammed along the moving path, and is accurately fed into thecoin opening 106 so that the coins can be efficiently processed. Details thereof will be described subsequently. - After the authenticity and type of coins are determined by a magnetic sensor or the like (not shown since conventional sensors can be used) in the coin
type determining apparatus 102, the coins are fed into the carryingapparatus 130 for the next processing step, and the coins are separated based on the type or denomination in thecoin selecting apparatus 130 which is configured to open/close predetermined gates to release specific coins while coins are carried along a predetermined path. - For more detailed description, the
coin feeding apparatus 100 includes arotation disk 105, astorage bowl 104 for storing coins, and a cylinder-shapedstorage ring 107 positioned under thestorage bowl 104 to surround therotation disk 105 as shown inFIG. 2 . Several different types of coins, thrown from the coin throwing port, are introduced and dropped into the storage portion under the release port of thestorage bowl 104 to be stored in an accumulated manner. - The
rotation disk 105 has a universal division recessedportion 113 for receiving different denominations of coins one by one, and is obliquely provided at the bottom of thestorage ring 107 at a predetermined angle to be rotated at a predetermined speed and in a certain direction, that is counterclockwise as shown by an arrow G in the embodiment ofFIG. 1 . - The
rotation disk 105 is composed of a base rotationcircular plate 111 and a pushingdisk 12 fixed on the upper face of the rotationcircular plate 111 coaxially with the rotationcircular plate 111 and made of a Y-shaped plate having three recessed portions at a constant interval on theprotrusion 115 so that a space between theprotrusions 115 of the pushingdisk 112 and the movingbody 117 described later form a substantially semicircular division recessedportion 113 at the upper face of the rotationcircular plate 111. - Further, the depth of the division recessed
portion 113, that is the thickness of the pushingdisk 112 is formed to be slightly smaller than the thickness of the thinnest coin among the 8 types of coins. - The plate is not limited to a Y-shape and may be found as a plate in which several protrusions are radially formed. The rotation
circular plate 111 and the plate, that is the pushingdisk 112, may be integrally shaped by pre-sintered metal or from a wear-resistant resin. - The division recessed
portion 113 between theprotrusions 115 has a movingbody 117 arranged at its one side, which pivotally operates about apivot shaft 120 to receive and eject coins. - The division recessed
portion 113 is formed to be a substantially semicircular division recessed portion on the rotationcircular plate 111 by the movingbody 117 and theprotrusions 115. A slightly concaved recessed portion is formed at the other side of the division recessedportion 113 in theprotrusion 115 and a coinextrusive portion 121 for receiving thecoin 110 against the recessed portion and carrying the same is formed in the recessed portion. An arcuate receivingportion 118 for receiving the movingbody 117 is provided in the division recessedportion 113 in opposite to the coinextrusive portion 121. - Here, the division recessed
portion 113 is set in its size such that two coins having the smallest diameter cannot be received side by side and only one coin having the largest diameter can still be received. Thus, two coins having the smallest diameter cannot be received into the division recessedportion 113 in a side by side in the diameter direction of therotation disk 105. - When the moving
body 117 is typically in the rest state near one side of the recessed portion so as to form a fully open position for the division recessedportion 113 and is subsequently moved to a predetermined position through the pivot motion, the movingbody 117 thereby feeds the stored coins in the periphery direction of the rotationcircular plate 111. - The ejection movement to the predetermined position by the moving
body 117 is initiated along the rotation path of therotation disk 105 slightly downstream of the aforementionedcoin passing opening 106 which is formed such that the coin can pass to the cointype determining apparatus 102 at the top of thestorage ring 107. When the movingbody 117 passes through theopening 106, the movingbody 117 is returned and operated to be accommodated in the receivingportion 118 formed at one side of the recessed portion to again receive a stored coin. - The moving
body 117 can be moved on a groove cam by utilizing the rotation operation of the rotationcircular plate 111. In other words, apin 122 is fixedly provided at the middle of the movingbody 117 and is inserted into an arcuate throughhole 123 formed about thepivot shaft 120, where thepin 122 is formed in the rotationcircular plate 111 of therotation disk 105. Further, there may be employed a drive mechanism in which thepin 122 is slidably inserted into a groove cam provided at the lower side of the rotation circular plate 111 (not shown) through a moved body such as a roller. - The
rotation disk 105 is rotated by an electric motor 124 (seeFIG. 1 ). The rotation of theelectric motor 124 is transmitted to a speed reducing or deceleration gear (not shown) formed at a lower periphery face of the rotation circular plate 111 (not shown) through a decelerator gear or gears and therotation disk 105 is rotated at a predetermined speed. - A
coin feeding wheel 128 is provided at the side of the cointype determining apparatus 102 into which a coin is fed. Acoin guide rail 129 is provided inside the cointype determining apparatus 102 in correspondence to thewheel 128. - A part of the
coin guide rail 129 near theopening 106 is formed into a knife-shaped coin receiving portion 127 (seeFIGS. 5 and 6 ) for easy reception of thecoin 110. The thicknesses of thecoin guide rail 129 andcoin receiving portion 127 are set to be of sufficient size to accommodate the coins. - Thus, the
coins 110, accumulated inside thestorage bowl 104, are stirred by therotation disk 105 having the above structure and thecoins 110 are held in the division recessedportion 113 one by one and moved upward, and are pushed out in the periphery direction from the division recessedportion 113 by the movingbody 117 when the coin reaches the predetermined position above the rotation center. - The pushed
coins 110 are lead to theopening 106 via thecoin receiving portion 127. Then, the coins are fed into the cointype determining apparatus 102 while being rotated along theguide rail 129 by a feeding arm 128 a of thewheel 128 at the side of the cointype determining apparatus 102 which is rotating to face theopening 106, and then the coins are fed into the carryingapparatus 104 and subsequently to a coin type determination. - In this manner, the
coin 110 is fed from theopening 106 to acoin passage 130 at the side of the cointype determining apparatus 102 by therotation disk 105 in the same posture as the obliquely-providedrotation disk 105, and is received by thecoin receiving portion 127. Theopening 106 is provided at an obliquely-cut portion at the lower right corner of the box-shaped cointype determining apparatus 102 as understood fromFIGS. 2 and 11 . - For a further description of the coin
type determining apparatus 102, the cointype determining apparatus 102 accommodates thewheel 128 in the circular recessedportion 126, and is composed of a plate-shaped fixedsubstrate 133 below thecoin guide rail 129 andcoin receiving portion 127 and amain body 134 which is pivoted at anattachment shaft 135 on the right of the fixedsubstrate 133 in an openable/closable manner, has a box-shaped case and incorporates a coin type determining sensor or the like inside the case, seeFIG. 2 . Here, part of the periphery of the circular recessedportion 126 formed in the fixedsubstrate 133 is opened and is communicated with a recessedportion 109 inside the coin feeding apparatus 101 (seeFIG. 5 ). - The inner bottom face of the circular recessed
portion 126 is a wheel-arrangedbase face 126S and the inner bottom face of the recessedportion 109 inside the apparatus is anupper face 105S of the rotation disk. The wheel-arrangedbase face 126S and theupper face 105S of the rotation disk are continuous in the plane. Thus, the inner bottom face of the circular recessedportion 126 as the coin feeding face and the inner bottom face of the recessedportion 109 inside the apparatus are continuous in a smooth plane so that a coin can be smoothly moved from thecoin feeding apparatus 101 to the cointype determining apparatus 102 through thecoin opening 106. - When the
main body 134 of the cointype determining apparatus 102 is closed, as shown inFIG. 15 , therear face 134B of themain body 134 is opposed to the wheel-arrangedbase face 126S as the inner bottom face of the circular recessedportion 126, and is also opposed to theupper face 105S of the rotation disk as the inner bottom face of the recessedportion 109 inside the apparatus. Thus, theopening 106 is formed among the three members. - The
coin opening 106 is in a slit rectangular shape, and the thickness and width thereof is set so that only one coin at a time can pass. Since the coin feeding apparatus copes with several types of coins, theopening 106 is set and formed to have a thickness and width in as much conformity as possible to a coin having the maximum thickness and maximum diameter. - For detailed description, the
opening 106 is a rectangular port surrounded by 4 members such as thecoin receiving portion 127 for defining the thickness and width of theopening 106 and the right-side protrusion 140 (seeFIGS. 6 and 9 ) at the circular recessed portion opposite thereto in addition to therear face 134B of the main body, the circular recessedportion 126 and the recessedportion 109 inside the apparatus. The surface of thewheel 128 is covered with therear face 134B of the closed main body. - At the
coin opening 106, anattachment plate 8 of a horizontally-long plate shape, as shown inFIG. 11 is mounted in a canopy shape at the lower end of themain body 134 of the cointype determining apparatus 102. The canopy-shapedattachment plate 8 is positioned opposed to the wheel-arrangedbase face 126S and thedisk face 105S of the rotation disk when themain body 134 is closed, and constitutes part of the opening as an upper wall of theopening 106. - When the
rotation disk 105 is rotated, and thecoin 110 is pushed outside the division recessedportion 113 by the movingbody 117 which pivotally operates in accordance with the rotation, and is fed toward thecoin opening 106 while being moved along the inner periphery of thestorage bowl 104, the feeding operation may not be normally performed in some cases. - For example, a phenomenon as shown in
FIG. 12 may occur. In other words, when thecoin 110 is pushed out from the division recessedportion 113 by the movingbody 117, thecoin 110 may drop off atip end 117 e of the movingbody 117 due to the apparatus's vibration or the like. If thecoin 110 may drop off when thecoin 110 is captured by the movingbody 117 and is not smoothly ready to be fed into theopening 106, the coin feeding rate decreases so that the apparatus lacks in its coin processing ability. - As shown in
FIG. 13 , at the final stage where thecoin 110 is put on thecoin receiving portion 127 by the movingbody 117, the coin may drop off thecoin receiving portion 127 or may be held at thetip end 127 e of thecoin receiving portion 127 in a hung manner instead of dropping off completely. - When the
coin 110 is not put on the receivingportion 127 and is stopped at the receivingportion 127 in a hung manner, thewheel 128 cannot rotate due to the stoppedcoin 110 and cannot feed out thecoin 110 with its arm 128 a. Consequently, thewheel 128 cannot rotate, which is determined as an operation failure and will interrupt the operation of the apparatus itself. - Moreover, as shown in
FIGS. 14 and 15 , when thecoins 110 are moved from the division recessedportion 113 to the outer periphery by the movingbody 117, somecoins 110 may jump out from the disk face of therotation disk 105 due to the apparatus's vibration, and other coins are directed outside of therotation disk 105 due to momentum. Then, the coins may strike the inlet of theopening 106 like acoin 110B as shown inFIG. 15 . In other words, thecoin 110B becomes oblique and strikes thetip end 8 d of theattachment plate 8 at itsupper end 110 g and stops at theopening 106. Acoin 110B, stopping at the inlet of theopening 106, is sandwiched and locked between theopening 106 and the movingbody 117 and thus cannot move because the coin is pressed at its opposite side with the movingbody 117. Because of the thus lockedcoin 110B, therotation disk 105 cannot rotate, which causes an abnormal stop to the apparatus. - The repair fixing of an apparatus in an abnormal stop requires removal of the clogged
coin 110B or the like, and consequently the working dispensing rate of the coin processing apparatus may significantly decrease. - The present invention addresses these potential problems.
- At first, the
attachment plate 8 having a horizontally-long plate shape, which extends in a canopy shape as described above, is attached at the lower end of themain body 134 of the cointype determining apparatus 102. - On the other hand, as shown in
FIGS. 2 to 10 and the like, the pressingmember 10 for elastically pressing thecoin 110 against theupper face 105S of therotation disk 105 is provided along the rotation path near theopening 106 of therotation disk 105. - The face opposite to the pressing face, that is the lower face of the
coin 110, is pushed against theupper face 105S of therotation disk 105 by the pressingmember 10 by way of an appropriate pressing force. Thus, thecoin 110 stably lies on the upper face of therotation disk 105. In this manner, since the coin can be placed on theupper face 105S of therotation disk 105 in a stable posture, thecoin 110 can be smoothly fed out. - The pressing
member 10 is a flexibly elastic plate which is configured to be made of synthetic resin or the like to have a plane shape as shown inFIG. 3 and to have anoblique portion 12 as shown inFIG. 4 at its upstream part. - The pressing
member 10 can be mounted on the rear side of theattachment plate 8 by glue or other adhesive material. The glued portion is illustrated bydiagonal lines 22 inFIG. 3 . The pressingmember 10 can be made of a synthetic resin such as a polycarbonate material having the thickness of about 0.3 mm. Since the pressingmember 10 is made of a flexible material such as synthetic resin, the material itself has appropriate elasticity to provide a resilient force. - With more detailed description, the pressing
member 10 has a plate-shaped base orbody member 10 k having a predetermined width and length, and theaforementioned oblique portion 12 is integrally formed with the plate-shapedbase 10 k at its upstream one end at a predetermined inclination angle, for example at the inclination angle of 30°. Theoblique portion 12 has a firstpressing portion 14 which extends downward from the base 10 k. The firstpressing portion 14 is a first elasticpressing piece 14H. - Further, the
oblique portion 12 is formed with a block plate 15 (described later) which is continuous with the first pressingportion 14 in the plane and extends upward from the base 10 k. Theblock plate 15 is directed for preventing thecoin 110 from proceeding toward theopening 106, which will be described later. - The pressing
member 10 includes a secondpressing portion 16 provided at the other end at a predetermined inclination angle, for example at the inclination angle of 30°. The secondpressing portion 16 is a second elastic pressingpiece 16H. - The first elastic
pressing piece 14H is configured to elastically contact with the upper face of thecoin 110 at its tip end as shown inFIG. 4 . In other words, as illustrated in the figures, the first elasticpressing piece 14H is provided above theupper face 105S of therotation disk 105 at the attachment height d such that the tip end thereof is slightly lower than the thickness D of the coin. - Similarly, the second elastic pressing
piece 16H is also provided above theupper face 105S of therotation disk 105 at the attachment height d such that the tip end thereof is slightly lower than the thickness D of the coin. In this case, since several types of coins are treated, the attachment height d is set at a position lower than the thickness D of the thinnest coin. - Since the pressing
member 10 is provided such that the first and second elastic pressingpieces pressing piece coin 110 against theupper face 105S of therotation disk 105 by a predetermined resilient force according to the amount of deflection of the tip end deflected by the coin, respectively. - The pressing
member 10 is configured such that the first pressing portion 14 (first elasticpressing piece 14H) is positioned before theopening 106, the second pressing portion 16 (second elastic pressingpiece 16H) is positioned behind theopening 106, and the first and secondpressing portions coin 110 moved by the movingbody 117 at an appropriate timing. - Thus, when the
coin 110 is moved to the outer periphery side by the movingbody 117, the first elasticpressing piece 14H of the pressingmember 10 contacts with thecoin 110 put on the tip end of the movingbody 117 at a position shown inFIGS. 5 and 6 and presses the coin downward. Therefore, thecoin 110 can stably lie on theupper face 105S of therotation disk 105 so that thecoin 110 can be smoothly moved by the movingbody 117. - In other words, since the
coin 110 can be stably pressed so as not to separate from theupper face 105S of therotation disk 105, thecoin 110 is prevented from unstably moving in the thickness direction of the movingbody 117 and is held in its appropriate path of movement. Until the final stage where the movingbody 117 pivotally operates and pushes thecoin 110 from the division recessedportion 113, thecoin 110 can be held without dropping off the movingbody 117, thereby accurately feeding thecoin 110. Thus, the coin feeding rate is improved. - The pressing force by the pressing
member 10 can be changed depending on the selection of a material of the pressingmember 10, the inclination angle of the elasticpressing pieces pressing piece 14H and the second elastic pressingpiece 16H are set at the inclination angle of 30°, but may be at a different angle. - A portion where the first pressing
portion 14 presses against thecoin 110 is at the lower half of the coin face from the center of thecoin 110 where a centrifugal force has less impact. This is because it is expected that if the upper half of the coin face at a farther position on the outer periphery from the rotation center of therotation disk 105 is pressed, the pressing force against the coin may be unstable due to the centrifugal force so that the moving body cannot stably hold the coin. - When the
coin 110 is farther carried and approaches theopening 106, the secondpressing portion 16 of the pressingmember 10 operates. This operation will be described below. - The second
pressing portion 16 is a triangle plate-shaped portion which is bent to be inclined downward toward theupper face 105S of therotation disk 105 at a position opposite to the first pressingportion 12. The second elastic pressingpiece 16H, as this bending portion, presses thecoin 110 downward, that is toward theupper face 105S of the rotation disk. The secondpressing portion 16 is positioned opposite to thecoin receiving portion 127 as shown inFIGS. 7 and 8 . - Therefore, when the
rotation disk 105 rotates and thecoin 110 is put on thecoin receiving portion 127 by a pivot operation of the movingbody 117, thecoin 110 is pressed against theupper face 105S of the rotation disk by an appropriate pressure by the second elastic pressingpiece 16H of the secondpressing portion 16 at a location as shown inFIGS. 7 and 8 . Thus, thecoin 110 can be stably received at thecoin receiving portion 127 and remains placed on thecoin receiving portion 127. Thus, the coin will not drop off thecoin receiving portion 127. - The
coin 110 put on thecoin receiving portion 127 can be smoothly fed into the cointype determining apparatus 102 by the arm 128 a of thewheel 128 which rotates and reaches the position. If there was no pressing member for making the coin receiving state stable, the coin may drop off the coin receiving portion or may be hung in the dropped state. - When the coin stops on the way in the
coin receiving portion 127 instead of dropping off completely, thewheel 128 may be stopped due to the coin and cannot rotate, and consequently the apparatus is in abnormal stop condition. However, since thecoin 110 is passed to thecoin receiving portion 127 in a more stable posture by the secondpressing portion 16, thecoin 110 will not stop at thecoin receiving portion 127 in a hung manner so that the above failures are eliminated. - There will now be a description of the
block plate 15, which is provided in theoblique portion 14 of the pressingmember 10 and is inclined upward integrally with the first elasticpressing piece 14H. - The
block plate 15 is an elastic plate inclined upward relative to theupper face 105S of therotation disk 105 toward the upstream side of the rotation direction of therotation disk 105 and is formed continuously with the first pressingportion 12 as shown inFIGS. 3 , 4, 5 andFIGS. 9 , 10. The inclination angle of theblock plate 15 is 30°, which is the same as the first elasticpressing piece 14H. Theblock plate 15 has a necessary width, which extends for a predetermined length in the diameter direction of therotation disk 105, and thus extends near theopening 106. - Therefore, when the
block plate 15 covers therotation disk 105 like a roof before theopening 106, even when acoin 110 proceeds toward the inlet of theopening 106, theblock plate 15 prevents it. Thus, thecoin 110 is prevented from striking theopening 106 as disclosed with aconventional coin 110B inFIG. 15 . - Since the
block plate 15 forms a barrier and is provided in an upward-inclined manner relative to theupper face 105S of therotation disk 105, even if the coin may jump from thedisk face 105S due to the apparatus's vibration, the coin is still restricted from jumping by theblock plate 15 and is prevented from falling out of the desired coin path, and consequently will not strike theopening 106. - Since the pressing
member 10 is made of a flexible member such as a synthetic resin, it has an elastic force and operates to return thecoin 110 toward theupper face 105S of the disk by an appropriate pressure even when thecoin 110 bounces and strikes theblock plate 15 so that the blocking function on the coin works well. The pressingmember 10 can be integrally molded as a one piece member with appropriately hinged first and secondpressing pieces - In this manner, there will not occur a lock state in which a coin striking the
opening 106 causes thecoin 110B to be sandwiched between the inlet of theopening 106 and the movingbody 117, which was a conventional problem as shown inFIGS. 14 and 15 . Thus, since a failure such as rotation stop of therotation disk 105 is eliminated, the coin can be smoothly fed into the coin type determining apparatus at the next step, thereby obtaining the coin feeding apparatus capable of efficiently processing the coins. - The present invention can easily and accurately eliminate failures such as the lock phenomenon at the coin feeding port, the coin dropping-off phenomenon from the moving body, the rotation disability of the rotation disk due to coin stop at the coin receiving portion and the like by providing the
coin pressing member 10 described above. - Thus, since the coin feeding operation of the coins can be stably performed, the coin processing rate of the entire apparatus is remarkably improved, thereby obtaining a beneficial coin feeding apparatus.
- Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations and modifications of the just-described preferred embodiment can be configured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the amended claims, the invention may be practiced other than as specifically described herein.
Claims (16)
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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JP2006297283A JP5109035B2 (en) | 2006-11-01 | 2006-11-01 | Coin feeding device |
JP2006-297283 | 2006-11-01 |
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US20090029638A1 true US20090029638A1 (en) | 2009-01-29 |
US7666076B2 US7666076B2 (en) | 2010-02-23 |
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US11/932,840 Active 2028-02-02 US7666076B2 (en) | 2006-11-01 | 2007-10-31 | Coin feeding apparatus and method for biasing a release of coins |
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US (1) | US7666076B2 (en) |
EP (1) | EP1918888B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP5109035B2 (en) |
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US20120238196A1 (en) * | 2011-03-17 | 2012-09-20 | Masayoshi Umeda | Coin separating and transferring apparatus for positioning a sorted coin at an interim stationary position |
US8439731B2 (en) * | 2011-03-17 | 2013-05-14 | Asahi Seiko Kabushiki Kaisha | Coin separating and transferring apparatus for positioning a sorted coin at an interim stationary position |
US20140170948A1 (en) * | 2012-12-18 | 2014-06-19 | Asahi Seiko Co., Ltd. | Coin hopper |
US9105140B2 (en) * | 2012-12-18 | 2015-08-11 | Asahi Seiko Co., Ltd. | Coin hopper |
TWI603296B (en) * | 2015-09-09 | 2017-10-21 | 旭精工股份有限公司 | Coin hopper |
CN111201552A (en) * | 2017-10-10 | 2020-05-26 | 克兰佩门特创新股份有限公司 | Coin paying device |
US11315377B2 (en) | 2019-01-28 | 2022-04-26 | Asahi Seiko Co., Ltd. | Coin separating and feeding device in a coin processing device |
US11361608B2 (en) * | 2019-01-28 | 2022-06-14 | Asahi Seiko Co., Ltd. | Coin separating and detecting device |
US11941936B2 (en) * | 2019-03-04 | 2024-03-26 | Asahi Seiko Co., Ltd. | Apparatus for discrimination and conveyance of coins |
US11527123B2 (en) * | 2019-10-07 | 2022-12-13 | Asahi Seiko Co., Ltd. | Coin delivery device and coin processing device |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
JP2008117025A (en) | 2008-05-22 |
JP5109035B2 (en) | 2012-12-26 |
EP1918888B1 (en) | 2011-07-13 |
US7666076B2 (en) | 2010-02-23 |
EP1918888A1 (en) | 2008-05-07 |
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